For My Research
by Keep It Quiet
Summary: A human girl tries to observe the trolls living in Zul'Gurub, but nothing goes as she plans. However, the trip was not a complete failure, was it? M for later chapters and possible naughty language


This was exciting! For years now, Jules had been placing all of her time and effort into studying the various trolls living in Azeroth, though spending considerable time on two particular tribes. Everything from history to culture to biology, she wanted to learn. So far, troll biology was her strong point, followed closely by history. However, culture wasn't exactly something she was too keen on, and that she intended to fix by whatever means necessary…which included a stay with, her personal favorites, the Gurubashi and Hakkari trolls of Zul'Gurub.

Well, not so much a stay. More of an unknown visit.

Today was day two of her wanderings through the beauty and danger of Zul'Gurub. This wasn't exactly the way she had hoped to study the troll culture, but Jules wasn't going to be picky. She would take whatever she could get. So, she was more than happy to dive behind bushes and trees whenever some unsuspecting trolls decided to stroll past her, giving each other a hearty "Hey, mon!" as they passed someone they knew.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed someone reclining against a brick wall. Aw, a female! A beautiful female at that, long white hair with a high ponytail at the top of her head, smooth blue skin, and a small tusks. She wore a long purple robe littered with gold and green threads. Beautiful though she was, she seemed to be in pain. Maybe this was Jules's chance to make friends with a troll. Quickly, she checked her supply of bandages and ointment, and hurried to the female's side.

"Need some help?" Jules asked in broken and probably horrible-sounding Zandali. At first, the alarmed female simply looked at her as if she were the brood of Nefarian himself, and then she screamed for help. "No, no, no! I'm not going to hurt you!"

But, her pleas with the female fell on deaf ears. From the moment the yell left the troll's lips, a trio of nearby males came running to her aid. Two of them roughly seized Jules's arms while the other pulled the bag out of her hands. That particular one was rather scary; just from the look of him, she'd say he was probably a head hunter. Not exactly someone a defenseless human girl wanted to tangle with. The three of them argued, too, probably over what to do with her. Jules couldn't understand everything that was said. In fact, all she really caught were the words "kill", "tiger", "river", and a name she'd heard before, "Mandokir."

Finally coming to an agreement, the trolls practically dragged her off. In all honesty, she hoped it wasn't toward the "tiger" or "river" they were talking about. Really they didn't walk far, when one's in the arms of hostile trolls even the shortest amount of time seems like days, before she saw a huge pyramid just on the other side of a brick wall. The troll with her bag gave a sharp whistle, one that actually made the other two cringed, and a figure began running down the pyramid steps. Jules froze, only to have her body dragged by her captors, and barely a minute later a huge, red-haired troll rode up on an ornately-decorated raptor.

_That's him_,' her mind marveled, '_The Bloodlord Mandokir._'

The head hunter (as Jules would now call him) handed the mounted troll her bag and babbled something in Zandali. The new male eyed Jules suspiciously. Again he chattered something in his native tongue and pointed to the pyramid. The others nodded before leading her to the giant structure.

* * *

_Well this sucks._

So, Mission Observe Troll Culture: failed. Instead of carefully noting the behavior of the Zul'Gurub trolls, she was now stuck in a cage with the renowned Bloodlord Mandokir guarding her. Jules stayed to the back of her cage.

The troll practically tore open the flap of her bag and rummaged through it. At first Jules was a little worried about what he'd find, and maybe even a bit angry that he'd do such a thing. Then again, she kind of brought it on herself by intruding like she had, as well as carrying a bag while she did said intruding. As far as what the troll would find, she knew she packed only a notebook, a pen with extra ink, and some candy to munch on while she observed. Apparently, that wasn't of much interest to the male.

The Bloodlord swung his leg over to dismount and approached her. To Jules's surprise, he shoved the bag through the bars at her.

"Ya really need ta work on ya Zandali, girl. Joo scared dat priestess pretty bad wit' whateva ya said," he muttered as she cautiously took the sack. "So what'choo doin' intrudin' on us like dis, hm?"

"I didn't mean to intrude, honestly. I just, wanted to observe."

"Joo be a spy then?"

"No! No, I'm not a spy. It's for my research," Jules explained, noticing how badly her voice was shaking. The troll nodded slowly.

"We got secrets ta guard here, human. Ya can' just be comin' in here, seein' what'cha have, and den leavin'." Mandokir tilted his head a bit. "Joo gonna stay wit' meh, now. Ya wanna be here, joo stay foreva, an' ya do as I tell ya to."

"What?" she exclaimed, "I can't stay here!"

The troll glared at her, his eyes sending shivers all through her body. "Den we be feedin' ya soul to Hakkar."

Mandokir turned his back to the human girl as he began walking down the pyramid steps. He really left her no choice. Stay in this place and live, or suffer a probably painful death at the hands of a God, or whatever that thing was to these trolls. Besides, people in Stormwind would notice she was missing, right?

"What do you want me to do?" Jules called after him.

No answer.

"I said, what do you want me to do?" A little louder this time.

The troll paused and glanced over his shoulder. "Thought joo'd see t'ings mah way. Ya be going wit' de female ya scared earlier ina while. She get'cha all de t'ings ya be needin. Ohgan, les'go."

Jules watched the troll lead his raptor down the steps as she sat on the cold ground of the cage. For now, all she could really do was cooperate with the trolls' demands until she was rescued. Of course, _if_ she was rescued.


End file.
